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Chapter 10 - Occupant Restraints and Protective Equipment

Safety Belts Make a Difference

Of all the safety features in your vehicle (aside from your brakes), the most essential to your well-being is your safety belt. Lap and shoulder belts became standard in vehicles sold in the United States beginning in 1974. Thousands of lives have been saved and millions of injuries prevented since that time. Unfortunately, some drivers still think safety belts are inconvenient. They find them annoying - a nuisance. But the vast majority of safe drivers realize that any minor inconvenience is well worth the life-saving benefits.

Children younger than seven must be secured in an approved safety seat or booster seat.

Legal Aspects

1. Front seat belts are required equipment if they were originally installed in your automobile. This applies to most cars on the road today. New York law requires that all front seat occupants (both drivers and passengers) wear a seat belt at all times. This applies to all passenger vehicles, including trucks and similar vehicles that have installed safety belts. Drivers are responsible for all passengers who are under 16 years of age, and they will be fined up to $100 and receive three points on their license if any passengers under 16 are not properly restrained. Those who have a class DJ learner's permit, a class DJ license, or a limited class DJ or MJ license must wear seat belts and require all their passengers to also use seat belts.
2. All children younger than 16 years old must use an appropriate child restraint or seat belt no matter where they are seated.
3. Children younger than seven years of age must be secured in an approved safety seat or booster seat in the back seat. If there is no rear seat, the child must be properly restrained in the front seat.
4. If all lap-and-shoulder belts are in use by other children, a child weighing over 40 pounds may wear a lap belt without a child restraint (a booster seat cannot be safely used with a lap-only belt). It is best to keep children in a booster seat until the vehicle's seat belt fits them properly (usually when they are 4'9" or 80 lbs.) as seat belts are designed for adults.
5. Occupants of a passenger vehicle that is not required to be equipped with seat belt systems under federal law are exempt from wearing seat belts. In addition, those who have a physical or medical condition making them unable to wear a seat belt are also exempt if their physician can verify their condition.

In choosing a safety seat for your child, remember four important points. The seat must:

1. Have a seal of federal approval.
2. Fit properly in your car.
3. Be the proper size for your child.
4. Be in the back seat.

Many newer vehicles allow you to adjust the position of the shoulder strap to fit an older child, or you can use a booster seat. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recommends keeping your children in booster seats until they are at least 8 years old or 4'9" tall. Seat belts fit your child properly if:

• The child's knees bend comfortably over the edge of the seat;
• The lap belt rests on the upper thighs or hips and away from the abdomen;
• The shoulder belt comes across the chest and collar bone; and
• The child can sit in this position during every trip.

One Belt/Seat Per Person

Sometimes a young child will want to sit on the lap of an adult or share a seat with someone else. These are very bad ideas, and here's why:

• Studies show that eight out of every ten children who die in car crashes would have survived if they were in a child safety seat.
• One out of four children killed in car crashes is crushed by adults who failed to buckle their safety belts. Even if you wear your seat belt when your child is in your lap, the physical forces involved make it practically impossible to protect your child. Death has been recorded in crashes as slow as 12 mph. A 12-lb. child becomes a 240-lb. force in the arms of the person holding the child in a 10 mph car crash.

Safety belts are designed to be used by one person at a time.

If your child doesn't want to be secured or sit alone, you'll have to explain why. Even if the child sits perfectly still during the trip, the potential for serious or fatal injury is still there. You will have to be sure you are wearing a safety belt yourself so the child understands the need to be restrained in a moving vehicle. It's also a life-saving habit you are teaching if you make your child buckle up every time he or she gets in the car.

How Safety Belts Protect You

Seat Belt Myths

There are several myths regarding seat belts. Which of the following is TRUE?

• Safety belts are needed only if you are going on long trips, not if you are just driving around town.
• It's safe to hold a child in your lap if you also wear your seat belt.
• Wearing a safety belt is a personal decision that won't affect anyone else.
• Safety belts can trap you inside a car.
• Some people are able to walk away after being thrown out of a car in a collision.
• Safety belts can keep you from being thrown into the path of another car.

Only one of the above statements is true. These statements will be discussed later on in this section.

Vehicle Control

Drivers who wear safety belts have more control over their vehicles in emergency situations, and therefore have a better chance to avoid a crash. It is said that a motor vehicle collision actually consists of three separate collisions. After a vehicle crashes into another object, two other collisions also occur. As a result, when we look at a motor vehicle crash, we are actually looking at three total collisions.

The First Collision: The Vehicular Collision

The first collision occurs when the vehicle collides with another object. In a severe crash with another vehicle or other large object, the car comes to an abrupt stop.

The Second Collision: The Human Collision

At the moment of impact, occupants are still traveling at the vehicle's original speed. Anyone not secured will crash into a part of the vehicle's interior, other objects in the car, or other occupants.

The Third Collision: The Internal Collision

After a person's body stops, internal organs still move forward. During this stage, these organs may collide into other internal organs or the skeletal system.

Both the second and third collisions can cause serious injury or death. Therefore your best protection against these additional collisions is to fasten your seat belts. When properly fastened, they distribute the forces over the larger, stronger parts of the body that can better absorb these forces.

Therefore if you get into a collision, your safety belt is designed to keep you inside the safety zone area (passenger compartment), which allows you to have better control of your vehicle during the second and third collisions. Your safety belt takes the forces of impact from the first crash quickly, dissipating it and therefore protecting you. It is a safer medium for absorbing the forces than the glass or steel in your vehicle.

Pregnant Women

Make sure the belt settles snugly around your hip and pelvic bones and across your upper thighs.

Although the safety belt law makes exceptions for certain medical conditions, pregnancy is not one of them. The mother still needs to be protected, and when she is restrained, the baby has a better chance to survive. The pressure of the seat belt is much less than if the mother is slammed into the dashboard during a crash. This does depend on wearing the safety belt properly. If you are pregnant, you should:

1. Sit upright. Extend the latch plate and belt as far as you can. Attach the buckle until it clicks. If you need a longer belt, you can usually get extenders from automobile dealers at no cost.
2. Position the lap belt as low on your hips as possible, under the abdomen and the unborn child. Make sure the belt settles snugly around your hip and pelvic bones and across your upper thighs. There should be no slack in the lap belt.
3. Position the shoulder belt over your shoulder, collar bone, and down across your chest. Many vehicles offer a comfort feature that will allow a small amount of slack in the shoulder belt, much like a window shade. Just pull the belt out at least five inches and then let it retract. Pull it out again about an inch and release. The belt will then settle into place. (Consult your vehicle owner's manual if the mechanisms of your seat belt differ.)

Crash Protection

Safety belts have proven to make a difference. Following are some statistics:

• Nearly 2/3 of the passengers killed in traffic collisions in the U.S. each year are not wearing seatbelts (approximately 15,000 to 16,000).
• About half of these people could have been saved if they wore safety belts.
• Safety belts reduce your chances of being killed or seriously injured in a crash by about 50%.

Safety belts help protect occupants in five ways:

1. There is a "ride down" in which the safety belt begins to stop the wearer as the vehicle is stopping.
2. The safety belt keeps the head and face of the wearer from hitting objects inside the car, such as the steering wheel rim, windshield, interior post, and dashboard.
3. The safety belt spreads the stopping force widely across the strong parts of the body (such as the chest and hips).
4. Safety belts keep occupants in their seats, thereby keeping them from colliding with each other.
5. Safety belts help the driver maintain control of the vehicle, thereby decreasing the possibility of an additional crash.

Operational Principles

There are two types of occupant restraints, active and passive:

• A passive restraint requires no action by the driver or occupants.
• An active restraint requires the driver and occupants to operate it.

Manual Seat Belts

Manual seat belts are active restraints. The safety belts in most vehicles today are manual seat belts. To operate a manual seat belt properly, you must:

1. Sit upright. Extend the latch plate and belt as far as you can. Attach the buckle until it clicks. If you need a longer belt, you can usually get extenders from automobile dealers at no cost.
2. Position the lap belt as low on your hips as possible. Make sure the belt settles snugly around your hip and pelvic bones and across your upper thighs. There should be no slack in the lap belt.
3. Position the shoulder belt over your shoulder, collar bone, and down across your chest. Many vehicles offer a comfort feature that will allow a small amount of slack in the shoulder belt, much like a window shade. Just pull the belt out at least five inches and then let it retract. Pull it out again about an inch and release. The belt will then settle into place. (Consult your vehicle owner's manual if the mechanisms of your seat belt differ.)

Air Bags

Air bags are passive restraints designed for front-end collisions where they inflate instantly upon impact to protect the driver and any occupant. Because it inflates automatically, no action is required from the driver or occupant.

Automatic Safety Belts

Automatic safety belts are passive restraints. They are designed so that the driver and any occupant do not have to manually fasten their safety belts. They are self-adjusting and lock upon impact. However, they are not good at protecting occupants unless a lap belt is also provided and used.

Air Bags and Other Protective Equipment

Air Bags

There is often a false impression that Seatbelts are not required when airbags are utilized.

Beginning with the 1999 model year, the federal government required automakers to install driver and passenger air bags for frontal impact protection in all cars, light trucks, and vans. Side air bags are not mandated by the government via the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They are, however, offered as either a standard or optional feature in many newer-model vehicles by many automakers.

Air bags are designed to protect an individual in a cushion of air that absorbs the force of impact, keeping the person from hitting hard objects in front of him or her. However, they are most effective when safety belts are also worn, and used properly. Even if your vehicle has air bags, you are still required to wear seat belts. Here are some other facts about air bags:

• They inflate and start to deflate three times faster than the average person can blink the eyes.
• They can inflate at speeds of up to 200 mph.
• They can only be used one time if ever activated and then must be replaced.
• They are extremely reliable, and the possibility of accidental inflation is very unlikely.
• Inflation will not block your vision since it starts to deflate instantly.
• Crash sensors measure the severity of the crash. If the crash is severe enough, they send a signal to the airbag, which inflates in a fraction of a second.

Infants, Children and Air Bags

The energy required to inflate frontal air bags quickly in a crash can sometimes cause injury. Air bags inflate and deflate in fractions of a second at speeds approaching 200 mph, so the force that is generated can be enormous. These safety devices can be particularly dangerous to young children, so you must make sure to position them properly to ensure their safety. The safest place for young children to sit is in the rear seat while secured in safety seats or safety belts. Never place a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat if the vehicle is equipped with a passenger-side air bag, unless the air bag switch is in the OFF position (see below). Any young children who sit in the front seat should never be allowed to sit in their parents' lap.

An on-off switch can deactivate driver or passenger airbags. Vehicles without rear seats or with small rear seats, such as pickup trucks and sports cars, may have a passenger side on-off switch as standard equipment. You can request permission from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to have an on-off switch installed by a dealer or repair shop for any of the following reasons only:

• You cannot avoid sitting closer than 10 inches from the steering wheel;
• You have been advised by a physician that you have a medical condition that places you at risk from air bags;
• You are frequently in situations that require a child 12 or under to ride in the front seat; or
• You cannot avoid placing a rear-facing infant seat in the front seat, for example in a two-seat vehicle.

Anyone operating or riding on a motorcycle is required to wear a securely fitted protective helmet.

Motorcycle Helmets

Motorcyclists do not have the same type of protection that automobile occupants have. There is no shell of metal protecting them from the elements. Motorcycles are not equipped with safety belts, which are not appropriate for these vehicles. The only type of equipment that can be provided to protect a motorcyclist is a crash helmet. The law requires anyone operating or riding on a motorcycle to wear a securely fitted protective helmet certified by the U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT). It must fit the person properly, and it must have either a neck or chin strap and have a reflective surface on both sides. It is illegal and unsafe to use a helmet that is not approved by the US DOT.

Seat Belt Myths

Now let's go through each of the six statements at the beginning of the chapter and see how you did.

1. "Safety belts are good on long trips, but they are not needed if you are just driving around town." FALSE. More than half of all fatal traffic crashes occur within 25 miles of home. Driving around town without your seat belts fastened is gambling with your life.
2. "It's safe to hold a child in your lap if you also wear a seat belt." FALSE. Vehicle collisions are the top preventable cause of death for children. It's worth the safety of your children to buckle them up, and the law requires it as well.
3. "Wearing a safety belt is a personal decision that won't affect anyone else." FALSE. Again, the law mandates the use of seat belts. If you think it won't affect anyone else, consider your family and friends. Even if they are not with you should you get involved in a crash, they will be affected. Other drivers will shoulder the responsibility through taxes - as much as 85% of medical costs from crashes are paid by taxpayers.
4. "Safety belts can trap you inside a car." FALSE. It doesn't take long to unfasten your seat belt - less than a second. You have a better chance of escaping when you're conscious - which is what your safety belt will ensure - than if you're knocked out. It's extremely rare for a driver to be trapped after a crash.
5. "Some people are able to walk away after being thrown out of a car in a collision." FALSE. You have a better chance of surviving a crash if you remain within your vehicle - about 4 times better. Your seat belt keeps you from being thrown into the path of another vehicle or into other objects on the road.
6. "Safety belts can keep you from being thrown into the path of another car." TRUE. See #5 above. This is the ONLY true statement of the six.